Page 36 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

“Hey,” I managed, feeling like a teenage pixie with my first crush.

“Hello,” Leon answered. I was a couple of steps from the bottom, our gazes even. Without hesitation, Leon leaned forward, grabbed my waist, and pulled me toward him. His lips were soft, and he kissed with abandon. There was no question in his touch, just heady surety.

Pulling back, I inhaled, taking in Leon’s crisp, clean scent. Vampires didn’t sweat and didn’t have any body odor. Some found their scent unpleasant. It wasn’t the same decay as zombies, but it favored them more than the living. I found Leon’s scent comforting.

“I could get used to greetings like that.” I grinned, licking Leon’s taste off my lips.

“Only from me,” Leon huskily answered.

“Only from you,” I agreed.

Leon’s fingers squeezed my waist before he lowered me to the ground. “Phil, Sedrick, and Peaches just arrived,” Leon said, cupping the back of my neck as we turned and made our way into the bar.

It was an odd time of day. It was late enough that the patrons were gone. It was the time when the bar staff stayed to clean, getting everything prepared for the following night. The sunrise was an hour away, maybe less. Most vampires had already scurried to their hidey-holes. Thankfully, Leon’s safe zone was mere feet away.

As I walked by the bar, a furball zipped past, quickly followed by Wendall’s cry. “Trinket, get back here. You’re soaking wet.”

Wendall scooted past me, towel in hand. Trinket ignored him, merrily tittering as she scrambled around the floor, crawling up and over tables, and leaving a trail of dirty dishwater in her wake.

Ray’s bellowed, “Trinket,” finally put an end to her play.

“Thank you, Ray.” Wendall sounded exasperated or maybe just out of breath. “I’m not sure what bug’s gotten into her bonnet, but she’s all fired up tonight.” Wendall threw the towel over her and vigorously rubbed. Trinket didn’t seem to mind. She cooed and wiggled around until he was satisfied then scrambled up Wendall’s arm, perching on his shoulder with her long tail wrapped around his upper arm. She looked a bit like a drowned rat or, in this case, a drowned and scraggly scuttlebutt.

“I think she’s just trying to blow off steam. She was really worried earlier when you left, Ray.” Wendall went up on tiptoes and pressed his lips against Ray’s cheek. Trinket leaned in too, nuzzling against Ray’s neck.

“I was perfectly fine,” Ray answered but didn’t sound miffed.

“I know, but none of us knew what you were walking into.” Wendall shot a concerned look my way. “We were all so worried. We didn’t know who or what we’d find.”

“Wendall’s right.” Peaches flew past me and embraced Leon. My vampire stood there, a little frozen and unsure what to do. “I don’t know what Lucroy and I would have done if something happened to you. Don’t you ever do something so silly again.” Peaches smacked Leon on the shoulder before zipping away. A bright, whirling light shot out from Peaches hair, spinning around the room and chittering in a voice too high-pitched for me to understand. In fact, it kind of hurt my ears.

I stared at the whirly-gig until it dawned on me what it was. “Is that a sprite?”

The little thing buzzed before diving toward me. It ground to a halt when Peaches scolded it. “You need to ask permission first.”

The bright light danced in the air, its chittering louder. Fisted hands on hips, Peaches shot me an apologetic glance and said, “They’d like a taste of your dust. I know some pixies don’t like them eating their dust, so I told them to ask first.”

“They eat mine all the time,” Phil offered. “It’s not like I need it for anything.”

I gave a slow nod before making sure, “Is it the only one?” I wasn’t certain how I felt about a horde of sprites enveloping me.

Peaches nodded. “The rest are at my orchard. This one occasionally comes out with me.”

“Then it’s okay.” From what I knew, sprites didn’t get addicted to pixie dust the way ogres did. They liked it and could live off the stuff, but they ate other things and it was more delicacy than addictive drug.

Fluttering my wings, I produced a little dust. The sprite dove in and out, zipping around me before getting its fill and heading back to Peaches. It settled on the crown of his head and fell asleep.

I stared at the place I knew the sprite was though I could no longer see it. Lucroy quickly found his way to Peaches’s side. Mr. Moony was in the bar when Ray dragged Leon and me there. Their reunion had been exactly what I’d expected—low-key with barely a hint of relief. Neither one of them were fooling me. I’d seen and experienced enough with the two of them to understand just how important they were to each other. Lasting, deep friendships were difficult to find. Loyal ones even harder. I was glad Leon had someone like Lucroy Moony in his second life.

Sedrick cracked a yawn, his mouth opening wide. Scratching his thick fingers through his beard, Sedrick shook his head like a dog. “I need some fucking coffee if we’re gonna talk about stuff this early in the morning.”

“You already had two cups,” Phil innocently said.

Sedrick just shook his head. “Not enough.”

“Oh.” Phil sounded stricken as he glanced around the bar. Johnny must have already gone home because he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “If we were home, I could—”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sedrick sank his fingers into Phil’s long, pink ombre hair. “I’ll be fine. I’m just bitching.”

---